Selecting a data element in a network

ABSTRACT

One embodiment of the disclosure can represent within a K-partite graph, weighting factors between a set of identifier elements and a set of data elements. The K-partite graph can also represent weighting factors between the set of identifier elements and a set of metadata elements. In the K-partite graph, the set of identifier elements, the set of data elements, and the set of metadata elements are independent and disjoint sets such that no two vertices within a same set are adjacent. A score vector can be calculated that ranks each data element in a set of data elements. The score vector can be calculated from the weighting factors. At least one data element from the set of data elements can be selected using the score vector and a predetermined selection criterion.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority to the European Patent ApplicationSerial No. 10174141.1 entitled “METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR SELECTING A DATAELEMENT”, filed Aug. 26, 2010.

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.13/189,881, filed Jul. 25, 2011 (pending), which is incorporated hereinin its entirety.

BACKGROUND

The present invention relates to computing networks.

Each social computing platform such as Facebook, Bibsonomy and MySpacecontains various services which present wealth of information to users.There exists various service items range from user's recommendation,shopping services and items recommendation or news headlinesrecommendations. The current state-of-the art systems depend on themutual recommendation between the large numbers of available itemspresented to users through social computing platforms.

BRIEF SUMMARY

One embodiment of the disclosure can represent within a K-partite graph,weighting factors between a set of identifier elements and a set of dataelements. The K-partite graph can also represent weighting factorsbetween the set of identifier elements and a set of metadata elements.In the K-partite graph, the set of identifier elements, the set of dataelements, and the set of metadata elements are independent and disjointsets such that no two vertices within a same set are adjacent. A scorevector can be calculated that ranks each data element in a set of dataelements. The score vector can be calculated from the weighting factors.At least one data element from the set of data elements can be selectedusing the score vector and a predetermined selection criterion.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows a flowchart which illustrates an embodiment of a methodaccording to the invention;

FIG. 2 shows a flowchart which illustrates a further embodiment of amethod according to the invention;

FIG. 3 shows a flowchart which illustrates a further embodiment of amethod according to the invention;

FIG. 4 shows a flowchart which illustrates method of setting theweighting factors for the K-partite graph, which is a portion of anembodiment of the method according to the invention;

FIG. 5 shows a diagram which illustrates the different graph layers of aK-partite graph used in an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 6 shows a diagram which illustrates a K-partite graph;

FIG. 7 shows a diagram which illustrates a K-partite graph used todemonstrate an embodiment of the method according to the invention; and

FIG. 8 shows a functional diagram of a computer system according to anembodiment of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The solutions known for recommending items in social networks deploy themutual recommendation between users and items to be recommended for agiven user. For example, an item would be recommended to a user based onshared mutual items. However, such solutions do not take into accountthe underlying semantic features.

To elaborate, the variety of items and the rich shared features betweenthose items may dictate the need for a more scalable recommendationmechanism that can make use of the semantic similarity between them.That is, there is a crucial need for techniques that can handle theincreasing amount of feature rich items presented through socialcomputing platforms such as Facebook or BibSonomy. The featuresassociated with those items range from user preferences, activities,posts, bookmarks, interests to connections to other users. Thetechniques currently used present recommendations based on theconnections between users and items to be recommended while ignoring theunderlying semantic features that might introduce strong similaritiesbetween them. There is therefore a need (satisfied by embodiments of thedisclosure) for a scalable recommendation technique that takes intoaccount the underlying semantic features of the items to be recommended.

In other words, the disclosure provides an enhanced solution to producerecommendations of items based on both the mutual items interaction andthe semantic features for those items. In one embodiment, the disclosureprovides a social computing recommendation technique that canaccommodate for the rich features associated with the items to berecommended. Embodiments of the invention are based on K-partite graphrepresentation which is used to model various semantic features alongwith their interactions. The proposed technique harnesses the power ofsemantic features components using mutual relations. In some embodimentsthe induction is performed given the representation of the rich semanticfeatures on a K-Partite graph.

In accordance with the embodiments of the invention, feature-richrecommendation is represented as a K-partite graph comprising disjointsets representing: the resources (also referred to thereinafter as “dataelement” or “target”) which designate the items to be recommended, anidentifier representing any item that encloses a set of features, andany arbitrary number of features associated with those identifiers. Eachfeature (also referred to thereinafter as “metadata”) is represented asa disjoint set of vertices in the graph.

A K-partite graph represents a graph whose graph vertices can bepartitioned into disjoint sets so that no two vertices within the sameset are adjacent. For example, a bipartite graph (or bigraph) is a graphwhose vertices can be divided into two disjoint sets U and V such thatevery edge connects a vertex in U to one in V; that is, U and V areindependent sets. Similarly, in a tripartite graph, the vertices arepartitioned into three sets (partitions) so that no two verticescontained in any one partition are adjacent.

In accordance with embodiments of the invention, a computer-implementedmethod is provided to select a data element (resource) for a startingidentifier element using a predetermined selection criterion.

The recommendation or selected data element thus provided is appropriatefor the starting identifier element. An identifier element as usedherein encompasses any element or data structure that is used toidentify a profile or a contextual identification of an object. Forinstance, an identifier element may include but is not limited to abook, a periodical, a login, a personnel file, a medical record, a userprofile, a user account, a shopping cart on an e-commerce site, or aprofile on a social networking site. A data element as used hereinencompasses any type or content which may be recommended to the startingidentifier element.

The K-partite graph is used to represent weighting factors between a setof identifier elements and a set of data elements. The relationshipbetween the starting identifier elements and the data elements ismodeled using a K-partite graph. The K-partite graph is used to furtherrepresent weighting factors between a set of identifier elements and theset of metadata elements. The data element belongs to the set of dataelements and the starting identifier element belongs to the set ofidentifier elements. Based on the weighting elements which comprise theK-partite graph the data element for the starting identifier element isselected using the weighting factors between the identifier elements andthe data elements and also between the set of identifier elements andthe set of metadata elements.

Stated differently, an embodiment of the disclosure provides a socialcomputing recommendation technique that can accommodate for the richfeatures associated with the items to be recommended. The proposedinvention is based on K-partite graph representation which is used tomodel various semantic features along with their interactions. Theproposed technique harnesses the power of semantic features componentsusing mutual relations. The in some embodiments the induction isperformed given the representation of the rich semantic features on aK-Partite graph.

The disclosure provides for a computer-implemented method of selecting adata element for a starting identifier element using a predeterminedselection criterion. Essentially the computer-implemented method is ableto provide a recommendation or selected data element that is appropriatefor the starting identifier element. An identifier element as usedherein encompasses any element or data structure that is used toidentify a profile or a contextual identification of an object. Forinstance an identifier element may be but is not limited to: a book, aperiodical, a login, a personnel file, a medical record, a user profile,a user account, a shopping cart on an e-commerce site, or a profile on asocial networking site. A data element as used herein encompasses anytype or content which may be recommended to the starting identifierelement.

A K-partite graph can represent weighting factors between a set ofidentifier elements and a set of data elements. The relationship betweenthe starting identifier elements and the data elements is modeled usinga K-partite graph. The K-partite graph is used to further representweighting factors between a set of identifier elements and the set ofmetadata elements. The data element belongs to the set of data elementsand the starting identifier element belongs to the set of identifierelements. Based on the weighting elements which comprise the K-partitegraph the data element for the starting identifier element is selectedusing the weighting factors between the identifier elements and the dataelements and also between the set of identifier elements and the set ofmetadata elements.

An embodiment of the disclosure can calculate a score vector iterativelythat ranks each data element of the set of data elements by iterativelytraversing the K-partite graph from the starting identifier element toeach data element of the set of data elements via the set of metadataelements. The score vector is calculated by adding a multiple of theweighting factors traversed to the value of the score vector. The methodfurther comprises the step of selecting the data elements using thescore vector and the predetermined selection criterion. Depending uponthe embodiment the predetermined selection criterion can take severaldifferent forms. For instance the predetermined selection criterion maybe used to select the data element which has either the highest orlowest score from the score vector. More complicated selection means maybe even some other embodiments where a certain number of data elementsare selected from the set of data elements using the score vector. Forinstance the data elements which receive above a particular score may beselected or in other embodiments a predetermined number of data elementsare selected from the set of data elements in accordance with the valueof the score vector. The metadata elements of the set of metadataelements are items of metadata. The weighting factors between the set ofidentifier elements and the set of metadata elements reflects howaccurately each of the metadata elements relates to a particularidentifier element. For instance if a portion of an element of metadatadoes not describe an identifier element then the weighting factor may begiven a zero value, null value, or other value which indicates norelationship. However, if a metadata element does describe an identifierelement perfectly then this would be reflected in the weighting factors.

An advantage of an embodiment of the disclosure is that a finite orpredetermined number of weighting factors is used to describe theK-partite graph. Based on the relationship or weighting values betweenthe starting identifier element and the individual metadata elements arecommendation or a selection of a data element is achieved with respectto the other identifier elements in the set of identifier elements. Thisleads to an improved method of selecting or recommending a data element.

In another embodiment the K-partite graph comprises a layer for the setof identifier elements. The K-partite graph further comprises a layerfor the set of data elements. The K-partite graph further comprises twoor more layers for the set of metadata elements. The weighting factorsbetween the set of identifier elements and the set of data elements andalso the weighting factors between the set of identifier elements andthe set of metadata elements define the connections of the K-partitegraph.

Each of the two or more layers of the metadata elements has a layerweighting factor. The layer weighting factor adjusts the value of themultiple of the weighting factors traversed. Essentially the elements ofthe set of data elements are broken up into sub-groups which are definedby the different layers. Each of the sub-groups can be and have theirrelative importance adjusted with respect to each other. This isaccomplished by adjusting or defining the weighting factors.

This embodiment is advantageous because the relative importance ofmetadata can be adjusted according to different classifications ofmetadata. For instance if the identifier elements were books and themetadata elements were metadata describing the books different types orsub-classifications of books could be grouped according to layers forthe description of the metadata elements. Using this example a dataelement may be a recommendation for another book for a user. The layersmay be divided according to a classification such as fiction ornon-fiction. The layers of data elements may also be divided intosubjects.

In a problem such as book recommendation, different metadata layerscould be created. For example, for each user (identifier), we couldrecommend books (target) based on the information we know about thebooks available (metadata). In a K-partite graph, the user ID could actas an element (node) in the identifier layer. The book to be recommendedis going to be an element (node) in the target layer. An author could bean element (node) in a metadata layer called authors. Year of publishingcould be an element (node) in a publishing year metadata layer. Thenumber of metadata layers could increase according to the implementerneeds.

Variable weights could be assigned based on the implementer'srequirements to connections between different layers. Metadata layers ortarget layers could be assigned higher weights than others. For examplein a friend recommendation system, the “number of friends” for userscould act as a more important metadata layer than the “number of groups”that those friends join. In a book recommendation system, the number ofpurchases could act as a more important metadata layer than the authorname of the book. Accordingly, higher weights could be assigned to thosedominating layers.

In another embodiment, there is an identifier-metadata matrix whichcontains a weighting factor between each element of the set ofidentifiers and each element of the set of metadata elements. There isan identifier data matrix which contains a weighting factor between eachelement of set the identifier elements and each element of the set ofdata elements. These two matrices are used to represent the weightingfactors of the K-partite graph.

In another embodiment, the set of metadata elements is divided into twoor more layers. Each layer has a weighting factor. The path isadditionally represented by a fourth value. The fourth value isdetermined by the layer of the first metadata element. The score in thescore vector is replaced by the value of the score plus the multiple ofthe first value, the second value, the third value, and the fourthvalue. In this embodiment an implementation of how to incorporate theweighting factor into the algorithm is described.

In another embodiment, the predetermined iteration criterion is at leastpartially the completion of a predetermined number of iterations. Thenormalized score vector is calculated using a predetermined number ofiterations.

In another embodiment, the predetermined iteration criterion is theconvergence of the normalized score vector to the value of thenormalized score vector for the previous iteration. A variety ofdifferent schemes could be used to test for convergence. For instancethe two vectors could be subtracted from each other and then the rootmean square of the resulting vector could be used as a measure.Additionally the values of individual elements of the vector could alsobe checked. For instance a portion or certain values in the vector mayconverge but other elements of the vector have not.

In another embodiment, each score of the score vector is initializedwith the same value. For instance the score of zero could be used toinitialize the score vector. In another example the initialization valuecould be 1 divided by the number of scores that are contained in thescore vector. For instance the score vector could be normalized suchthat it has a value of 1 in order to represent a probability.

In another embodiment, the weighting factors are at least partiallydetermined by input received by an operator. Essentially the weightingfactors are typed in or entered by an operator. This could be throughnumerical input or it could also be through an opinion. For instance ifthe identifier elements are books then the weighting factors could insome instances be a person's opinion of a book or of the relevance of apiece of metadata of how well it describes a book.

In another embodiment, weighting factors are at least partiallydetermined by natural language processing. For instance for determiningthe weighting factors between the identifier and the metadata naturallanguage processing could be used to examine the metadata and assign ascore as to how well the metadata related to the identifier. This couldbe implemented by using a natural language processing module.

In another embodiment, the weighting factors are at least partiallydetermined by the number of metadata elements or data elements. Theweighting factors could be simply the value of 1 divided by the numberof connections to or from the particular metadata element or dataelement. This could be useful in the situation where weighting factorsare not given by a user or it is not possible to rank using naturallanguage processing.

In another embodiment, the data element comprises a text tag. A text tagused herein encompasses a simple descriptor or description whichcomprises several words or a single word. Each identifier element of theset of identifier elements comprises at least partially some text. Theweighting factor between a particular data element and a particularidentifier element is determined at least partially by the frequency ofthe text tag within the text of the identifier element. This embodimentis advantageous because it provides a quantitative measure of therelevance of a text tag to a particular identifier element. The use ofcounting the number of times a text tag appears may be computationallyless intensive than using a natural language processing module.

In another embodiment, multiple data elements are selected from the setof data elements using the score vector and the predetermined selectioncriterion. For instance the predetermined selection criterion could beto select all data elements above or below a particular score.Alternatively the predetermined criterion could be to select apredetermined number of data elements with the largest or smallestscores.

In another embodiment, the data element is any one of the following: amultimedia clip, a keyword, a bookmark tag or identifier, a text, a bookrecommendation, and a product recommendation.

In another embodiment, the starting identifier element is any one of thefollowing: a user account, a user profile, a customer account, a socialnetworking profile, a medical health record, a book, and a journalarticle.

In another aspect, the invention provides for a computer system forselecting a data element for a starting identifier element using apredetermined selection criterion. The computer system comprises aprocessor. It is understood herein that a processor may refer tomultiple processors and it also may refer to processors spread acrossmultiple computers.

It is understood herein that references a criterion also encompass morethan one criterion, that is to say that references to criterion are alsoto encompass criteria.

As will be appreciated by one skilled in the art, aspects of the presentinvention may be embodied as a system, method or computer programproduct. Accordingly, aspects of the present invention may take the formof an entirely hardware embodiment, an entirely software embodiment(including firmware, resident software, micro-code, etc.) or anembodiment combining software and hardware aspects that may allgenerally be referred to herein as a “circuit,” “module” or “system.”Furthermore, aspects of the present invention may take the form of acomputer program product embodied in one or more computer readablemedium(s) having computer readable program code embodied thereon.

Any combination of one or more computer readable medium(s) may beutilized. The computer readable medium may be a computer readable signalmedium or a computer readable storage medium. A computer readablestorage medium may be, for example, but not limited to, an electronic,magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system,apparatus, or device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. Morespecific examples (a non-exhaustive list) of the computer readablestorage medium would include the following: an electrical connectionhaving one or more wires, a portable computer diskette, a hard disk, arandom access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasableprogrammable read-only memory (EPROM or Flash memory), an optical fiber,a portable compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), an optical storagedevice, a magnetic storage device, or any suitable combination of theforegoing. In the context of this document, a computer readable storagemedium may be any tangible medium that can contain, or store a programfor use by or in connection with an instruction execution system,apparatus, or device.

A computer readable signal medium may include a propagated data signalwith computer readable program code embodied therein, for example, inbaseband or as part of a carrier wave. Such a propagated signal may takeany of a variety of forms, including, but not limited to,electro-magnetic, optical, or any suitable combination thereof. Acomputer readable signal medium may be any computer readable medium thatis not a computer readable storage medium and that can communicate,propagate, or transport a program for use by or in connection with aninstruction execution system, apparatus, or device.

Program code embodied on a computer readable medium may be transmittedusing any appropriate medium, including but not limited to wireless,wireline, optical fiber cable, RF, etc., or any suitable combination ofthe foregoing. Computer program code for carrying out operations foraspects of the present invention may be written in any combination ofone or more programming languages, including an object orientedprogramming language such as Java, Smalltalk, C++ or the like andconventional procedural programming languages, such as the “C”programming language or similar programming languages. The program codemay execute entirely on the user's computer, partly on the user'scomputer, as a stand-alone software package, partly on the user'scomputer and partly on a remote computer or entirely on the remotecomputer or server. In the latter scenario, the remote computer may beconnected to the user's computer through any type of network, includinga local area network (LAN) or a wide area network (WAN), or theconnection may be made to an external computer (for example, through theInternet using an Internet Service Provider).

Aspects of the present invention are described below with reference toflowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus(systems) and computer program products according to embodiments of theinvention. It will be understood that each block of the flowchartillustrations and/or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in theflowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, can be implemented bycomputer program instructions. These computer program instructions maybe provided to a processor of a general purpose computer, specialpurpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus toproduce a machine, such that the instructions, which execute via theprocessor of the computer or other programmable data processingapparatus, create means for implementing the functions/acts specified inthe flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.

These computer program instructions may also be stored in a computerreadable medium that can direct a computer, other programmable dataprocessing apparatus, or other devices to function in a particularmanner, such that the instructions stored in the computer readablemedium produce an article of manufacture including instructions whichimplement the function/act specified in the flowchart and/or blockdiagram block or blocks.

The computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer,other programmable data processing apparatus, or other devices to causea series of operational steps to be performed on the computer, otherprogrammable apparatus or other devices to produce a computerimplemented process such that the instructions which execute on thecomputer or other programmable apparatus provide processes forimplementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or blockdiagram block or blocks.

Referring to the figures, FIG. 1 shows a high-level flowchart forselecting a resource (data element) from a K-partite graph, according tocertain embodiments of the invention. The embodiment shown in FIG. 1 maybe implemented as a computer-implemented method, a computer programproduct, executed by a computer system or stored as instructions on acomputer-readable storage medium.

In step 100, a score vector is calculated iteratively. The score vectoris iteratively calculated and it ranks each data element of the set ofdata elements traversing the K-partite graph from the startingidentifier to each of the data elements of the set of data elements viathe set of metadata elements.

More specifically, in one embodiment, the score vector is calculated byadding a multiple of the weighting factors traversed to the value of thescore vector.

In step 102, a data element is selected using the score vectorcalculated in step 100. The data element is selected for a startingidentifier element using a predetermined selection criterion.

FIG. 2 shows a flowchart for selecting a data element in a K-partitegraph, according to embodiments of the invention.

In step 200 the score vector is first initialized.

In step 202 a path is determined between the starting identifier elementand each data element of the set of data elements.

In step 204 first, second and third values representing the path areretrieved. Such values can be retrieved from a suitable computer storagemedium such as a hard drive or disc, a database, or from computermemory.

In step 206 an updated score vector is calculated.

In step 208 the score vector is normalized or scaled.

In step 210 an iteration criterion is checked. The iteration criterionmay comprise a requirement for a minimum and/or maximum of iterations,or a criterion which at least partially includes a condition related tothe normalized score vector, such as determining if the normalized scorevector has converged to the initialized score vector or to a previousiteration of calculating the score vector. If the iteration criterion isnot satisfied, then the method proceeds to step 212.

In step 212, the score vector is replaced with the normalized scorevector. Then step 206 to 210 are repeated to calculate an updated scorevector, calculate the normalized score vector is calculated, and thencheck the iteration criterion. If the iteration criterion is satisfied,then the method proceeds to step 214. In step 214 the data element isselected using the normalized score vector and a predetermined selectioncriterion.

FIG. 3 shows a flowchart for selecting a data element in a K-partitegraph according to embodiments of the invention. In step 300, the methodstarts. In step 302 a vector is created for each identifier of sizeequal to the number of targets. This is equivalent to initializing thescore vector. Next in step 304 the vector is initialized withidentifiers where each value of the vector is initialized with the valueof 1 over n where n is the number of targets or data elements. In step306 vectors for identifiers with targets with actual targets areinitialized. In step 308 the method iterates over each identifier. Instep 312, the list of identifiers connected to those features isobtained. In step 314, the list of targets connected to thoseidentifiers is obtained. In step 316, the target probability for theidentifier is computed. In step 318, the vector at the end of eachiteration over all identifiers is normalized. In step 320 the number ofiterations is checked. If a predetermined number of iterations has notbeen performed then the method performs back to step 308. If thepredetermined number of iterations has been completed then the methodproceeds to step 322. In step 322 a predetermined number of targets ordata elements with the highest probabilities or score vector elementsare displayed. Then finally in step 324 the method has ended.

FIG. 3 illustrates the K-Partite graph traversal phases. In a firstphase, the list of features relating to the identifier being inspectedis obtained. In a second phase, the list of identifiers linked to thefeatures obtained from the first phase is determined. In a third phase,the list of resources linked to the identifiers obtained from the secondphase is determined. A fourth phase re-computes the probability vectorsfor the identifiers obtained in the second phase with the resourceslinked to those identifiers. For example, computation for the firstelement in the identifier vector for the first resource equals thesummation of the initial weight of the vector element and the weightbetween the identifier being inspected and the feature obtained in phase1 multiplied by the weight between the identifier and the resource.

In the event of including an identifier that contains no resources inthe calculations, the resources probability vector for that post will becreated based on all available resources to be recommended by thesystem. For example, the resources vector for a post included in asystem containing 5 resources would generate a probability of ⅕ for eachresource initially. The value changes per iteration later. Iteration isthe total computations done across all the nodes of interest. The numberof iterations needed “N” is adjusted according to the implementers need.After “N” iterations, the highest probability items in the identifier'sresources vector are chosen.

FIG. 4 shows a flowchart for setting the weighting factors for theK-partite graph according to certain embodiments of the invention. Instep 400 the method starts. In step 402 inputs for the K-partite graphare read. This includes identifiers (also referred to as identifierelements), targets (also referred to as resources or data elements) andfeatures (also referred to as metadata).

In step 404 the identifiers are connected to features. In step 406 theweighting factors between the identifiers and the features is set. Inthe example illustrated in FIG. 4, the weighting is set to be equalto 1. However, the skilled person will readily understand that theweighting factors are not limited to such value and that the weightingfactors could be set to other values (e.g. provided as an input orreceived from a user or a database). Alternatively natural languageprocessing could also be used to set the weighting factors.

In step 408 the identifiers are connected to the targets. This defineslinks within the non-partite graph between the identifier elements andthe data elements. In step 410 the weighting factors between theidentifiers and the targets is set. In one example the weighting factorcould be equal to 1 over n where n is the number of connections thatwere made in step 408. Alternatively the weighting factor could be inputby a user or determined using an algorithm such as natural languageprocessing to develop a correlation between the identifier and the dataelement. Finally in step 412 the processing ends.

FIG. 4 thereby illustrates the graph construction phase of the K-Partitegraph. The first phase is to read the nodes that will be used to buildthe graph. Next, links are established between the nodes and oneanother. This includes creating links between the identifiers andfeatures. Each created link contains an assigned weight. This can be setaccording to the predefined requirements such as implementers need. Adefault value of 1 was set for illustration purposes over all linksbetween the identifiers and features. Then, links between theidentifiers and resources to be recommended are created. The weights forthe links between each identifier and the resources equals to 1 dividedby the total number of resources linked to the identifier. In the socialnetwork field, a resource could be linked to many tags. For example, aresource having 3 tags leads to a weight equal to ⅓ (i.e.: 1/n) for eachlink between the identifier and its resources.

FIG. 5 shows a diagram which illustrates the different graph layers of aK-partite graph used in embodiments of the invention. The K-partitegraph 500 is shown as having one layer for the identifier elements 502,another layer for the data elements 504, and a group of three layersused for the metadata elements 506. For embodiments of the invention,the metadata elements will be distributed into one of the layers 506.

FIG. 6 shows an example of a K-partite graph 600. The K-partite graph600 shown in FIG. 6 is comprised of data elements 602, identifierelements 604, and metadata elements 606. The data elements 602 areconnected to the identifier elements 604 and identifier elements 604 areconnected to metadata elements 606. FIG. 6 also shows a startingidentifier element 608. The starting identifier element 608 is connectedto a single metadata element 610 in this example. The metadata element610 is connected to three other identifier elements 612, 614, 616. Theidentifier element 616 has no connection to any of the data elements602. Therefore the identifier element 616 will not be involved in theselection of a data element. However, identifier elements 612 and 614are connected to a number of data elements 618, 620, 622, 624. The dataelement 620 has connections to identifiers 612 and 614. The execution ofthe method according to the invention will therefore involve two pathsleading to data element 620.

The K-partite represented in FIG. 6 is a tri-partite graph. The blacknodes shown in FIG. 6 represent the identifiers that do not have anylink to resources. This indicates that items are to be recommended tothose particular identifiers. The second set defines the features thatare common to all the identifiers. The third set represents theresources linked to those items or identifiers. The same could beapplied to a K-Partite graph with another K value to accommodate formore features by adding more disjoint sets to the graph as in FIG. 5.

The invention also provides a novel recommendation induction techniquefor the K-Partite graph representation as described below.

For some resource u in the disjoint set U, there is a set of tagsassociated with that resource. Similarly, for each resource there is aset of associated features that belongs to various disjoint featuressets V1 . . . Vn. The feature sets may also be referred to as resourcesets. Weights are assigned for possible tags t in T for each resource(post set V) as described thereinafter:

For each resource v, all features for the feature set U (u1 . . . un)are processed as follows: For each feature ui being processed, allassociated resources r1 through rn are obtained, and for each tag Tk,Tkv representing the probability of Tk to be associated with resource vis computed according to the following equation:

${T_{kv} = {\sum\limits_{i}{\sum\limits_{j}{{W\left( {v,u} \right)} \cdot {W\left( {r_{i},u_{j}} \right)} \cdot {T_{k}\left( {r_{i},u_{j}} \right)}}}}},$Where w(v,u) is the feature weight for post v and feature u.

When all resource v have been processed, Ti vectors are normalized, bydividing each value of T vector by summation over all values in thatvector.

The process ends when converged, i.e. there are no significant changeson the weights over iterations.

In FIG. 7 shows a diagram illustrating the selection of a data elementfor starting identifier element 608 using a predetermined selectioncriterion. The structure of the K-partite graph shown in FIG. 7 issimilar to the one represented in FIG. 6, but additionally comprisesmultiple layers 706 of metadata elements. Starting identifier element608 has a single connection to metadata element 610. Metadata element610 is connected to identifier elements 608, 612, 614, and 616. In thisexample, the weighting between each of these identifier elements 608,612, 614, 616 and the metadata element 610 is assigned a value of 1. Theskilled person will readily understand that different weightings couldbe assigned alternatively to the relationship between the metadataelement 610 and each of the identifier elements 608, 612, 614, 616. Theidentifier element 616 is not connected to any of the data elements 602.Identifier element 612 is connected to data elements 618 and 620. Inthis example, the weighting is assigned by dividing 1 by the number ofconnecting data elements. Therefore the weighting between identifierelement 612 and data elements 618 and 620 is equal to 0.5. Identifierelement 614 is connected to data elements 620, 622, and 624. Identifierelement 614 therefore has connections to three different data elements620, 622, 624. The weighting between each of these data elements 620,622, 624 and identifier element 614 is assigned a value of 0.3 toapproximate a weighting of one third. Value 0.3 is used in thecalculation of this example.

Even if not limited to such applications, the invention has particularadvantages to provide tag recommendation for BibSonomy. BibSonomy is asocial network used for sharing bookmarks and lists of literature amongusers. Users are able to save their discovered bookmarks or publicationson BibSonomy server. With BibSonomy, users can access their data fromany place. Furthermore, users can discover more bookmarks andpublications from friends and other people. Users can add tags to theirpost to retrieve it more easily. It is very similar to thebookmarks/favorites that are stored within web browsers. Tags representa simple way to annotate resources with meaningful metadata.

The invention accordingly makes it possible to provide recommendation oftags during bookmarking of resources, whether they are internetbookmarks or bibliographic entries that represent the literature.Bookmark includes useful data such as the description and an extendedversion of the description. Bibliographic entries which are alsoreferred to as “Bibtex” entries include rich information such as journalname, publisher, description, bibtex abstract, entry type (proceeding,PhD thesis etc.), title, author and year of publication. This rich setof information can be used as features for the method according to theembodiments of the invention in order to determine which tags (as dataelement) should be recommended to which identifiers (posts which includebookmark and bibtex posts).

The K-Partite based method in accordance with the embodiments of theinvention involves three requirements to operate. First, it needs anidentifier which represents the item to be analyzed. Second, a set offeatures that co-relate to those identifiers. Third, a resource whichrepresents the actual data that needs to be induced and/or recommendedfor identifiers that do not contain a resource. The invention makes itpossible to provide identifiers that do not contain any resources withappropriate recommended resources through the induced probabilisticvalues computed in accordance with the invention.

In the application of certain embodiments of the invention to Bibsonomy,a presented Bibsonomy post presented represents the identifier, thefeatures extracted from BibSonomy represent features, and the saved tagsper post correspond to the resources. The graph can be then generatedbased on the relationships between those three parts.

The weighting schema differs according to the node-node link structure.For example, a common weight is assigned between each identifier andfeature. The assigned weight corresponds to 1 in this embodiment casewhich means that all features are processed equally. For the linksbetween the identifiers and the resources, the value 1 is dividedaccording to the number of links between each identifier (post) and itscorresponding recommended resources (tags). For example, if anidentifier (post) contains links to two resources (tags), then theweight for the links between the identifier and each resource is 0.5.This is computed by the general formula 1/n where “n” is the number ofresources links with each identifier. This divides the probability ofresources among all the links for each identifier.

Then a series of iterations is performed in order to induce/determinethe missing resources values for identifiers that do not contain linksto resources. The final output for identifiers with no resources is aprobabilistic value for each possible resource that could be recommendedfor the current identifier. The higher the probabilistic value, the morerelevant the resource is believed to be for the identifier.

FIG. 7 illustrates an exemplary application of the invention toBibSonomy. The identifier is represented by the posts (P0-P5) as itencloses the features of the items being bookmarked. For example, eachpost can have a feature such as a description (containing instances suchas Description 1, Description 2 . . . Description n). Although theskilled person understands that the invention is not limited to specificfeatures, the following description of FIG. 7 will be made withreference to a unique feature, namely “description”, for illustrativepurpose only. A weight of 1 is assigned to links between the posts andthe presented feature instances. This value is constant across allinstances of the same feature. Different features could have differentweights assigned to them. For example, if another feature like “AuthorName” was provided for the post, then it could be assigned a higherweight that the one assigned to the description. The third layerrequired in the graph comprises the resources to be recommended, whichin BibSonomy application is represented by the tags. Links are createdbetween posts and tags that have actual assignments. The remaining postswithout links to tags are the ones for which probability values will bedetermined (P0, P3).

In the recommendation phase, the graph traversal is performed startingwith the first post that has unknown resources (P0). The list offeatures and feature instances connected to this post is then retrieved(“Description 1” as a feature instance in this case). The list of postslinked to this feature instance (P1, P2, and P3) is then obtained wherethe post being evaluated is discarded from the calculations.

The probability values Tkv for all resources are then induced byapplying the induction equation described above. It is noted that P1 andP2 contain links to resources while P3 does not contain any. Hence, theprobability value for P3 corresponds to values computed across all tagssince it is unsure which tag should correspond to P3 post.

The following exemplary calculations illustrate how the probabilitiesare induced for the resources across 2 iterations:

Iteration 1R[0]=0.16+1*1*0.5=0.66R[1]=0.16+1*1*0.5=0.66  P1R[1]=0.66+1*1*0.3=0.96R[2]=0.16+1*1*0.3=0.46R[3]=0.16+1*1*0.3=0.46  P2R[0]=0.66+1*1*0.16=0.82R[1]=0.96+1*1*0.16=1.12R[2]=0.46+1*1*0.16=0.62R[3]=0.46+1*1*0.16=0.62R[4]=0.16+1*1*0.16=0.32R[5]=0.16+1*1*0.16=0.32  P3Total Sum=0.82+1.12+0.62+0.62+0.32+0.32=3.82Normalized Value per Tag=Tag Value/Total SumTherefore the values for each resource (R[0]-R[5]) after normalizationare:R[0]=0.82/3.82=0.21R[1]=1.12/3.82=0.29R[2]=0.62/3.82=0.16R[3]=0.62/3.82=0.16R[4]=0.32/3.82=0.08R[5]=0.32/3.82=0.08Iteration 2R[0]=0.21+1*1*0.5=0.71R[1]=0.29+1*1*0.5=0.79  P1R[1]=0.79+1*1*0.3=1.09R[2]=0.16+1*1*0.3=0.46R[3]=0.16+1*1*0.3=0.46  P2R[0]=0.71+1*1*0.21=0.92R[1]=1.09+1*1*0.29=1.38R[2]=0.46+1*1*0.16=0.62R[3]=0.46+1*1*0.16=0.62R[4]=0.08+1*1*0.08=0.16R[5]=0.08+1*1*0.08=0.16  P3Total Sum=0.92+1.38+0.62+0.62+0.16+0.16=3.86Normalized Value Per Tag=Tag Value/Total SumTherefore the values for each resource (R[0]-R[5]) after normalizationare:R[0]=0.92/3.86=0.23R[1]=1.38/3.86=0.35R[2]=0.62/3.86=0.16R[3]=0.62/3.86=0.16R[4]=0.16/3.86=0.04R[5]=0.16/3.86=0.04

It should be noted that the more iterations the system passes through,the higher the probability of the more relevant tags become and thelower the probability of the irrelevant tags become. From the previousexample, it is clear that R[1] denoting the tag “java” will be the besttag to be recommended. Depending on the application, it is possible topresent the n-best tags to the user during bookmarking of items such asbookmark posts or bibliographic entries.

Evaluation was done on 430 posts from BibSonomy which were provided aspart of the ECML 2009 competition. Due to the nature of the taskcompared to the invention, manual annotation of the test set results wasperformed in order to determine if the total tags obtained with theinvention approach correlates to the actual ones of the dataset. Theresult obtained was 63% on the given 430 posts.

FIG. 8 shows a computer system 800 according to an embodiment of theinvention. The computer system comprises a processor 802 connected to acomputer memory 804 and computer memory 806. Additionally the computersystem 800 is connected to a user interface 808 which displays agraphical user interface 810. The graphical user interface 810 shows agraphical representation 812 of a data element selected according to anembodiment of the invention.

The computer storage 804 contains a program 814 for executing anembodiment of the method or essentially steps in machine executable codewhich causes the processor to perform an embodiment of thecomputer-implemented method. The program 814 may contain all the codenecessary for executing an embodiment of the invention or it may useexternal program modules for performing certain functions. For instancethere may be a path determination program module 816. The pathdetermination module 816 contains computer executable code fordetermining at least one path between the starting identifier elementand each data element of the set of data elements. The computer memorymay also contain a natural language processing module 818 fordetermining weighting factors using natural language processing. Thecomputer memory may also contain a copy of score vector 820 and a copyof a normalized score vector 824. The normalized score vector 824 iscalculated using the score vector 820 as input for one iteration of themethod according to the invention. The computer storage 804 may alsocontain a copy of the selected data element 826 or some other pointer orreference to the selected data element 826.

The computer memory 806 is shown as containing a data structure 828which represents the K-partite graph. The K-partite graph 828 contains aset of identifier elements 830, a set of data elements 832, and a set ofmetadata elements 834. These actual sets 830, 832, 834 may actually becontained in the computer memory 806 or may simply contain a referenceor pointer to the actual data. The set of metadata elements 834 iscomprised of six different layers 836, 838, 840, 842, 844, 846. TheK-partite graph 828 also contains an identifier-metadata matrix 848which contains weighting factors between each element of the set ofidentifiers and each element of the set of metadata elements. TheK-partite graph 828 also contains an identifier-data matrix whichcontains a weighting factor between each element of the set ofidentifier elements and each element of the set of data elements. TheK-partite graph 828 further contains a layer weighting factor vector 852which contains weighting factors for ranking the various layers 836,838, 840, 842, 844, 846 of the set of metadata elements 834. Thecomputer memory 806 is further shown as containing a path 854 which hasbeen determined by the path determination program module 816. Thecomputer memory 806 is also shown as containing the first value 856, thesecond value 858, the third value 830, and the fourth value 862 used forcalculating one element of the normalized score vector 824.

The computer storage 804 and the computer memory 806 are examples ofcomputer-readable storage mediums. In actual implementations the programcode or data being stored may be distributed differently between thecomputer storage 804 and the computer memory 806. Various programelements and bits of data may also be stored on separate computers orcomputing systems.

The flowchart and block diagrams in the Figures illustrate thearchitecture, functionality, and operation of possible implementationsof systems, methods and computer program products according to variousembodiments of the invention. In this regard, each block in theflowchart or block diagrams may represent a module, segment, or portionof code, which comprises one or more executable instructions forimplementing the specified logical function(s). It should also be notedthat, in some alternative implementations, the functions noted in theblock may occur out of the order noted in the figures. For example, twoblocks shown in succession may, in fact, be executed substantiallyconcurrently, or the blocks may sometimes be executed in the reverseorder, depending upon the functionality involved. It will also be notedthat each block of the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, andcombinations of blocks in the block diagrams and/or flowchartillustration, can be implemented by special purpose hardware-basedsystems that perform the specified functions or acts, or combinations ofspecial purpose hardware and computer instructions.

While the invention has been described with reference to one or morespecific embodiments, the description is intended to be illustrative ofthe invention as a whole and is not to be construed as limiting theinvention to the embodiments shown. It is appreciated that variousmodifications may occur to those skilled in the art that, while notspecifically shown herein, are nevertheless within the true spirit andscope of the invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method comprising: representing within aK-partite graph, weighting factors between a set of identifier elementsand a set of data elements, wherein the K-partite graph also representsweighting factors between the set of identifier elements and a set ofmetadata elements, wherein in the K-partite graph, the set of identifierelements, the set of data elements, and the set of metadata elements areindependent and disjoint sets such that no two vertices within a sameset are adjacent, and wherein the set of metadata elements aredistributed in two or more layers; providing an identifier-metadatamatrix to contain a weighting factor between each identifier element ofthe set of identifiers elements and each metadata element of the set ofmetadata elements, and providing an identifier-data matrix to contain aweighting factor between each identifier element of the set ofidentifier elements and each data element of the set of data elements;calculating a score vector that ranks each data element in the set ofdata elements, the score vector being calculated by adding aninitialized predetermined value of score vector with an adjustedmultiple of the weighting factors between a set of identifier elementsand a set of data elements and the weighting factors between the set ofidentifier elements and a set of metadata elements traversed from astarting identifier element to a corresponding data element of the setof data elements via the set of metadata elements and another identifierelements of the set of data elements, wherein the adjusted multiple ofthe weighting factors between a set of identifier elements and a set ofdata elements and the weighting factors between the set of identifierelements and a set of metadata elements is an adjusted value, whereinthe adjusted value is obtained after traversed the weighting factorsbetween a set of identifier elements and a set of data elements and theweighting factors between the set of identifier elements and a set ofmetadata elements based on a number of layers for the set of themetadata, and calculating the score vector further comprises:initializing the score vector with the predetermined value for eachscore; determining a path between a starting identifier element and eachdata element in the set of data elements, the path being represented bya first value representing a weighting factor between the startingidentifier element and a first metadata element, a second valuerepresenting a weighting factor between a first identifier element andthe first metadata element, and a third value representing a weightingfactor between the first identifier element and a first data element;retrieving the first value from the identifier-metadata matrix for eachpath; retrieving the second value from the identifier-metadata matrixfor each path; retrieving the third value from the identifier-datamatrix for each path; calculating an updated score for the first dataelement for each path by adding the predetermined value to multiple ofthe first value, the second value, and the third value; calculating anormalized score vector using the updated score; checking the normalizedscore vector with a predetermined iteration criterion; when thepredetermined iteration criterion was not satisfied, repeating checkingthe normalized vector with the predetermined iteration criterion untilthe predetermined iteration criterion is satisfied by replacing thescore vector with the normalized score vector and recalculating thenormalized score vector; selecting at least one data element from theset of data elements using the normalized score vector and apredetermined selection criterion when the predetermined iterationcriteria is satisfied; and wherein the method is implemented by acomputing device, which executes program instructions stored on anon-transitory storage medium.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein theK-partite graph is a tri-partite graph, where each data element of theset of data elements is a unique Web-accessible resource, wherein eachidentifier element of the set of identifier elements is a unique itemrecommended by at least one of the Web-accessible resources thatencloses a set of features, wherein each feature of the set of featurescorresponds to one of the metadata elements of the set of metadataelements.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the calculating the scorevector further comprises: iteratively traversing the K-Partite graphfrom the starting identifier element to each data element of the set ofdata elements via the set of metadata elements; and adding a multiple ofthe weighting factors traversed to a predetermined value of the scorevector.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein the K-partite graph comprises:one layer for the set of identifier elements; one layer for the set ofdata elements; and two or more layers for the set of metadata elements.5. The method of claim 4, wherein the two or more layers for the set ofmetadata elements comprise a layer weighting factor for adjusting avalue of a multiple of traversed weighting factors.
 6. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the set of metadata elements is divided into two ormore layers, each of the two or more layers comprising a weightingfactor, and wherein the path is represented by a fourth value determinedby a layer of the first metadata element, wherein the calculating thescore vector further comprises replacing the predetermined value in thescore vector by the predetermined value of the score vector plus amultiple of the first value, the second value, the third value, and thefourth value.
 7. The method of claim 1, wherein the predeterminediteration criterion comprises determining if a predetermined number ofiterations have been completed.
 8. The method of claim 1, wherein thepredetermined iteration criterion comprises for each current iterationdetermining if the normalized score vector converges to a value of thenormalized score vector for a previous iteration.
 9. The method of claim1, wherein each data element of the set of data elements comprises atext tag, each identifier element of the set of identifier elementscomprises text, and wherein a weighting factor between a particular dataelement and a particular identifier element is determined at leastpartially from frequency of the text tag within the text of theidentifier element.
 10. The method of claim 1, wherein each data elementin the set of data elements comprises one data element among thefollowing: a multimedia clip; a keyword; a bookmark tag; a text segment;a book recommendation; and a product recommendation.
 11. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the starting identifier element comprises one elementamong the following: a user account; a user profile; a customer account;a social networking profile; a medical health record; a book; and ajournal article.
 12. The method of claim 1, wherein each data element ofthe set of data elements is a unique Web-accessible resource, whereineach identifier element of the set of data elements represents a uniqueuser of a social networking Website.
 13. The method of claim 1, whereineach data element of the set of data elements is a multimedia item,wherein each identifier element of the set of identifier elementsrepresents a unique user.
 14. The method of claim 1, wherein each dataelement of the set of data elements is a product recommendation, whereineach identifier element of the set of identifier elements is a digitallyencoded file representing a product that corresponds to the productrecommendation, wherein each metadata element of the set of metadataelements is a metadata element for the digitally encoded file.
 15. Amethod comprising: generating a K-partite graph to represent weighingfactors between a set of identifier elements and a set of data elements,wherein the K-partite graph represents weighting factors between the setof identifier elements and a set of metadata elements, wherein each dataelement in the set of data elements is selected from a group consistingof: (i) a multimedia clip; (ii) a keyword; (iii) a bookmark tag; (iv) atext segment; (v) a book recommendation; and (vi) a productrecommendation, and wherein each identifier element in the set ofidentifier elements is selected from a group consisting of: (i) a useraccount; (ii) a user profile; (iii) a customer account; (iv) a socialnetworking profile; (v) a medical health record; (vi) a book; and (vii)a journal article, wherein the set of metadata elements are distributedin two or more layers; providing an identifier-metadata matrix tocontain a weighting factor between each identifier element of the set ofidentifiers elements and each metadata element of the set of metadataelements, and providing an identifier-data matrix to contain a weightingfactor between each identifier element of the set of identifier elementsand each data element of the set of data elements; calculating a scorevector that ranks each data element in a set of data elements, the scorevector being calculated by adding an initialized predetermined value ofscore vector with an adjusted multiple of the weighting factors betweena set of identifier elements and a set of data elements and theweighting factors between the set of identifier elements and a set ofmetadata elements traversed from a starting identifier element to acorresponding data element of the set of data elements via the set ofmetadata elements and another identifier elements of the set of dataelements, wherein the adjusted multiple of the weighting factors betweena set of identifier elements and a set of data elements and theweighting factors between the set of identifier elements and a set ofmetadata elements is an adjusted value, wherein the adjusted values isobtained after traversed weighting factors the weighting factors betweena set of identifier elements and a set of data elements and theweighting factors between the set of identifier elements and a set ofmetadata elements based on number of layers for the set of the metadata,and wherein calculating the score vector further comprises: initializingthe score vector with the predetermined value for each score;determining a path between a starting identifier element and each dataelement in the set of data elements, the path being represented by afirst value representing a weighting factor between the startingidentifier element and a first metadata element, a second valuerepresenting a weighting factor between a first identifier element andthe first metadata element, and a third value representing a weightingfactor between the first identifier element and a first data element;retrieving the first value from the identifier-metadata matrix for eachpath; retrieving the second value from the identifier-metadata matrixfor each path; retrieving the third value from the identifier-datamatrix for each path; calculating an updated score for the first dataelement for each path by adding the predetermined value to multiple ofthe first value, the second value, and the third value; calculating anormalized score vector using the updated score; checking the normalizedscore vector with a predetermined iteration criterion; when thepredetermined iteration criterion was not satisfied, repeating checkingthe normalized vector with the predetermined iteration criterion untilthe predetermined iteration criterion is satisfied by replacing thescore vector with the normalized score vector and recalculating thenormalized score vector; selecting at least one data element from theset of data elements using the normalized score vector and apredetermined selection criterion when the predetermined iterationcriteria is satisfied; and wherein the method is implemented by acomputing device, which executes program instructions stored on anon-transitory storage medium.
 16. The method of claim 15, wherein theK-partite graph comprises one layer for the set of identifier elements,one layer for the set of data elements, and two or more layers for theset of metadata elements.
 17. The method of claim 15, wherein the set ofthe metadata elements is divided into two or more layers, each of thelayers comprising a weighting factor, and wherein the path isadditionally represented by a fourth value determined by the layer ofthe first metadata element, wherein the calculating the score vectorfurther comprises replacing the predetermined value in the score vectorby the predetermined value of the score plus a multiple of the firstvalue, the second value, the third value, and the fourth value.
 18. Amethod comprising: representing within a K-partite graph, weightingfactors between a set of identifier elements and a set of data elements,wherein the K-partite graph also represents weighting factors betweenthe set of identifier elements and a set of metadata elements, whereinin the K-partite graph, the set of identifier elements, the set of dataelements, and the set of metadata elements are independent and disjointsets such that no two vertices within a same set are adjacent, whereinan identifier-metadata matrix is provided to contain a weighting factorbetween each identifier element of the set of identifiers elements andeach metadata element of the set of metadata elements, and wherein anidentifier-data matrix is provided to contain a weighting factor betweeneach identifier element of the set of identifier elements and each dataelement of the set of data elements; calculating a score vector thatranks each data element in the set of data elements, the score vectorbeing calculated by adding an initialized predetermined value of scorevector with an adjusted multiple of the weighting factors between a setof identifier elements and a set of data elements and the weightingfactors between the set of identifier elements and a set of metadataelements traversed from a starting identifier element to a correspondingdata element of the set of data elements via the set of metadataelements and another identifier elements of the set of data elements,wherein the adjusted multiple of the weighting factors between a set ofidentifier elements and a set of data elements and the weighting factorsbetween the set of identifier elements and a set of metadata elements isan adjusted value, wherein the adjusted value is obtained aftertraversed the weighting factors between a set of identifier elements anda set of data elements and the weighting factors between the set ofidentifier elements and a set of metadata elements based on a number oflayers for the set of the metadata, and calculating the score vectorfurther comprises: initializing the score vector with the predeterminedvalue for each score; determining a path between a starting identifierelement and each data element in the set of data elements, the pathbeing represented by a first value representing a weighting factorbetween the starting identifier element and a first metadata element, asecond value representing a weighting factor between a first identifierelement and the first metadata element, and a third value representing aweighting factor between the first identifier element and a first dataelement; retrieving the first value from the identifier-metadata matrixfor each path; retrieving the second value from the identifier-metadatamatrix for each path; retrieving the third value from theidentifier-data matrix for each path; calculating an updated score forthe first data element for each path by adding the predetermined valueto multiple of the first value, the second value, and the third value;calculating a normalized score vector using the updated score; checkingthe normalized score vector with a predetermined iteration criterion;when the predetermined iteration criterion was not satisfied, repeatingchecking the normalized vector with the predetermined iterationcriterion until the predetermined iteration criterion is satisfied byreplacing the score vector with the normalized score vector andrecalculating the normalized score vector; selecting at least one dataelement from the set of data elements using the normalized score vectorand a predetermined selection criterion when the predetermined iterationcriteria is satisfied; wherein the method is implemented by a computingdevice, which executes program instructions stored on a non-transitorystorage medium.